In an inspiring show of solidarity with the victims of animal testing, both chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly have unanimously passed a bill that will ban testing cosmetics on animals in the state, as well as the sale of cosmetics that were tested on animals. Once Gov. Josh Shapiro signs the bipartisan legislation into law, Pennsylvania will become the 13th state in the nation to take this important step, following a similar ban passed in Washington last year. The law will take effect six months after it is signed, but it will prohibit the sale of any cosmetics tested on animals on or after January 1, 2027.
Senate Bill 381, known as the “Beagle Bill,” will also allow research facilities that use dogs and cats to offer them up for adoption, with an attending veterinarian or designee determining which former test subjects are suitable to become companion animals. According to Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Adams/Franklin), the bill’s prime sponsor, this provision “brings humanity to the situation, and provides a second opportunity for these dogs and cats to find a home, and that’s worth fighting for.” While the adoption provision applies specifically to dogs and cats, the ban on cosmetics testing extends to all living nonhuman vertebrates.
The bill also limits how state funding can be used for research on cats and dogs, permitting the studies only if the project strictly avoids cosmetic testing, provides a written scientific justification, maintains oversight by an attending veterinarian, and publicly discloses its federal inspection history.
The new law does include several exceptions, such as allowing animal testing when regulators require it for a widely used ingredient with no suitable replacement or when a specific human health risk is identified, and allowing the sale of products tested on animals outside the United States in compliance with a foreign regulatory authority, as long as the testing was not done to confirm product safety. Even so, the bill is a major step in the right direction and adds to the growing state-level momentum that will hopefully help push the federal Humane Cosmetics Act, led by Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL), across the finish line in Congress.
You can help keep this momentum going by urging Congress to pass the Humane Cosmetics Act, which has the potential to save half a million animals from unnecessary testing every year